The Locket
by LittleWhoMouse
Summary: While trapped in a Qulanti prison, Rose tells the Doctor the story behind her locket.


This was written for helplesslynerdy, whose awesomeness knows no bounds, on tumblr

* * *

'What's in the locket?' The Doctor asks as he watches Rose slowly rub it between her fingers.

'A memory.' She says quietly.

'Being a bit enigmatic, aren't you?'

'Learned from the best.' She says flashing him a tongue-in-teeth grin. 'How long are we going to be in here again?' She asks. The prison the Qulantii have thrown them in is a classic medieval type with hay, mold and…Rose's tilts her head.

'Three hours and there aren't any mice in here, Rose. Maybe a few rovii, but you're perfectly safe from them.'

In her head, Rose beings to count down - _Three, two, one_

'Well when I say perfectly safe, what I mean is stamp your feet or clap your hands if you see one. They hate loud noises.'

'Right.' She says as she shifts around trying to find a comfortable spot on the stone floor. Finally settled, she leans her head against the wall and tries to nap for a bit. Running with the Doctor often means catching up on your sleep in jail.

She hears the Doctor drop down beside her. The soft caress of his shirt sleeve against her arm alerts her to the danger. She slaps his hand away from her locket and rolls her head towards him.

'That curiosity of yours is trouble.' She says with a meaningful look at the prison door.

The Doctor rolls his eyes. 'Rose, my curiosity isn't nearly as bad as your habit of wandering off.'

She laughs. 'Oh no, Doctor, this time it was entirely your fault. I was looking at a nice trinket for my mum.' She raises a finger and pokes him in the arm. 'You were the one who came dashing round the corner shouting "Run".'

'It was an ugly thing and not very useful. I saved you from wasting your money.' He lifts his head and stares at the ceiling as if he can see the stars beyond the walls. 'I'll take you to the asteroid bazaar in the Varsuth galaxy and you can get her a Bezoolium. Now that's a handy a little weather device.'

He pauses for a moment and then turns his head to look at her. 'Besides,' he says with a shrug of his shoulders 'you didn't have to run with me. They wouldn't have known you were with me if you hadn't.'

'Not run?' Rose says with a snort. 'I may not always listen to you -'

'Never more like.' The Doctor mutters.

'But,' she says with a glower, 'I do know that when you say run, to run.' She doesn't mention how worried she is of the day when she's too slow to run with him. Of the day he'll just leave her behind. It's a quiet fear that lurks in the shadows of mirrors.

They haven't really spoken of their transgressions - mostly his. But after Mickey left, after her mother had some rather loud words with him, he took her to Woman Wept and let her say her piece. It had helped a little.

When she tried to return the favour, the Doctor did as he always did and avoided having to say anything of consequence. She learned to push the hurt aside just as she learned to put on her make-up without having to look at herself for more than a minute.

The Doctor slides his hand into hers. A memory of basement and shop window dummies flitters through his mind. 'Good to know.' He says staring at their hands with a smile. He tugs her gently so her head falls against his shoulder. The glint of the silver locket catches his eye.

'Who gave it to you?' He asks, letting go of her hand so he can slide his arm around her shoulders and hug her closer to him. Purely for warmth he assures himself, especially since he doesn't even have his coat to offer her.

She raises a hand to the locket and beings to rub it again between her fingers. She wonders if she wants to tell him this; wants him to know everything about her when she still knows so little about him. But if she wants him to be more open, shouldn't she be the same?

'Jimmy.' She answers quietly.

'Stone?' He asks in distaste.

Rose chuckles softly. 'Heard the story from mum then did you?' She wraps an arm across his waist and squeezes herself closer to his side.

His hand on her shoulder briefly tightens. 'Why would you wear anything that idiot gave you?'

Rose smacks him lightly on his chest. 'You should know better than to believe all the stories my mum tells you. I swear every time I hear it Jimmy gets worse and worse. And I happen to love this locket. Normally wouldn't wear it 'cause I'd be worried I'd lose it. But,' she pulls away slightly, 'it just happened to go with my dress.' She says waving a hand down the length of her purple muslin Regency gown.

The Doctor had promised her Jane Austen. Instead they found themselves on Punti home of the Qulantii, whom the Doctor had met in his seventh body while chasing after a woman named Rani. Or the Rani. Rose wondered if articles were the equivalent of royal titles. Another thing, she thinks, that I will probably never know.

Apparently in order to get the Qulantii to help him capture the Rani, he told an old Arthurian legend letting them believe he was really Merlin and the Rani was the wicked sorceress Morgana. After they'd helped captured the rouge Time Lady, the Qulantii, so taken with the Doctor's stories, asked to know more about the Knights of the Round Table. As he was leaving, the Doctor tossed them a book on chivalry not realising that nearly a century later that book would become the equivalent of the Holy Bible to them.

Of course they had to translate it first.

The Doctor, curious to see how well they had done, had started to pull Rose towards a local church. But as they were passing through the market, Rose's eyes began to drift and soon the Doctor let her go with his usual stern warning about wandering off.

The Qulantii, according to the Doctor, had done a terrible job with the book. And, rather foolishly, he told the priest just as much. Moments later they ended up in prison.

The Doctor gently tugs Rose back to his side. 'So tell me about him.' He doesn't really want to hear about another boy in love with her. But he wants to hear about her, wants to know everything he can before…before… 'What was he really like?' He asks trying to ignore the slight twist in his hearts. Unconsciously, turns his head so his nose grazes her hair. With eyes closed, he takes a slow deep breath cataloguing the scent so years later he will still know it.

'What did my mum tell you?' She asks with a weary smile.

'Oh all manner of things but mostly that I should use the TARDIS to dump him into the nearest black hole.'

The tone of his voice causes Rose to pull away so she can see his face. His eyes are dark and there is a slight tightness in his jaw. She realises he's considered doing just that. 'Did she happen to mention that he was my physics tutor?'

He blinks in surprise. 'No.' He says as he tries to reconcile the blackened image Jackie's painted with this new bit of information. 'No, I don't think she did. He sounded a bit more like a –'

'Brainless drugged up rock star?' She asks with cheeky smile.

'Something like that.' He says with a frown.

Rose settles back against him. 'My physics teacher, Mr. Green, was rubbish.' She starts. 'Most of the time he had the wrong answers or if we asked for a better explanation, he'd tell us to read our books which of course we'd already done.'

The Doctor gently rubs his hand up and down her arm, easing some of her tension. She's a little surprised at how frustrated she can still feel when thinking about Mr. Green.

'I ended up nearly failing my mid-terms.' She grumbles. 'So when I noticed an ad on the school bulletin board offering tutoring, I asked mum if I could give it a go. She wasn't too thrilled about having to spend the extra cash, but she'd already tried to complain about Mr. Green and that hadn't gotten anywhere.'

Rose smiles, losing herself in her memories: A lanky boy with sandy blonde hair and a shy smile wearing a leather jacket that was one size too big. He was always pushing up the sleeves. When she asked why he didn't get it altered, he said it was because it was his father's and he wanted to keep it that way.

'Most of the people on the estate knew Jimmy because he played down at the local. His band was called the Treens - I think they were the villains in that old Dan Dare comic.'

'Actually,' the Doctor interrupts, 'the Treens are very nice people. Frank Hampson was just incredibly rude to them. Not only did he misrepresent them, but he ended up writing me as the Mekon!' He cries indignantly. 'The only thing he got right was the super-brain bit.' He harrumphs.

Rose smothers her laughter, but her body still shakes.

'Rose, it's a very serious matter.' He tries to say sternly, but there's a twitch of smile on his lips.

She strokes a hand up and down the side of his chest. 'Yes, yes,' she says 'your wounded Time Lord pride and all that. Poor boy.'

'Honestly, Rose, if you can't take this seriously, I don't know what hope we have.' He says with smile as he briefly brushes his cheek against her hair.

'Do you want to hear about Jimmy or would you rather we commiserate over your misfortune with Hampson?' She says twisting her head so her nose grazes the underside of his jaw.

'I suppose since you already started, you might as well finish.' He concedes. 'But later I expect some proper sympathy from you, Miss Tyler.' He says, tweaking her nose.

'Hot chocolate and those cookies from Aooja?' She asks.

'Of course.'

Rose lays her head back on his shoulder. 'Jimmy had a bit of a reputation, but it was more by association than anything he'd done. Noosh, she was the lead vocalist, was the one always getting into trouble. Of course I didn't know that at the time.'

She sighs and wriggles around a bit, before finally deciding to lay her head down on the Doctor's lap. 'Do you mind?' She asks.

'No.' He whispers. Hesitantly, he begins to run his fingers through her hair and when she gives a happy hum, his strokes become a little steadier.

Feeling content, Rose closes her eyes and drifts back into the past. 'The ad for the tutor only came with a phone number, so I didn't realize who it was at first. I sent him a text and asked him to meet me in the coffee shop by our fish'n'chip shop.' She says.

The Doctor smiles at the possessive adjective. Their chip shop isn't the best and it tends to be overcrowded at lunch with medical students from the Royal Hope, but it's the same one they went to after Platform One and has become a habit for them to visit whenever they're in London.

'I wasn't too sure about him when we first met, but then we got talking and…' She trails off, one hand absentmindedly tracing circles on the inside of his left knee. 'He was really sweet.' She finally says.

The Doctor frowns. Her tone sounds a little too love sick for his tastes. He carefully bends over her so he can see her face. Her eyes are still closed, but there's a dreamy little smile curving her lips. He can feel a muscle in his cheek twitch. He knows he only gets it when he clenches his teeth. Sitting back up he tries to relax jaw.

'He was a good tutor. Patient and kind and he never made me feel stupid.' She says almost wistfully.

He stops stroking her hair and pulls her shoulder so she's looking up at him. 'Do I?'

'Do you what?'

'Make you feel stupid?' When she hesitates, he begins to babble to try and overcome the sudden feelings of hurt and shame. 'Because you're not. You're brilliant. And I've told you, haven't I, that I only take the be-'

Rose places a finger against his lips and rises slowly from his lap. 'No,' she says 'you don't make feel stupid.' Her eyes leave his. 'Perhaps a little naive.' She shrugs her shoulders. 'But who wouldn't be compared to you?'

She moves to sit beside him again bending her knees and curling her arms around her legs. She leans her head back against the wall and stares up at the ceiling.

The Doctor looks at her with wide brown eyes suddenly feeling unsure what to do with his arms now that she's left them. He opens his mouth, tries to say something, anything to lessen this distance. But his throat feels unnaturally tight and none of the words in vast impressive vocabulary sound right.

Then she leans against him.

Her hands may still be clutching her knees, but at least he can put an arm across her shoulders and pull her into him again.

Sometimes the Doctor hates his inability to talk, really talk to her. But he fears her compassion. There are some sins he cannot bear to be parted from. He's grown too used to their weight.

'Jimmy used to take me to watch the stars.' She says breaking the Doctor from his thoughts. 'Music and string theory were his two greatest passions. Suppose it makes sense. They do go hand-in-hand after all.' She lets go of her knees and stretches out her legs. Turning towards him, she allows a hand to drift towards his free hand resting in his lap.

Palm to palm, the tension in both of them is released with sigh. He pulls her a little closer, gently easing her head down so it rests just above his hearts.

'He had so much potential. Could have been a lot of things, but he wanted to be a musician.' She pauses as she gets lost in the memory. Arguments and broken glass and a boy caught in between.

'Noosh was known to hang around the Helsby gang and well…' Despite being such a worldly being, there are times Rose is surprised by the Doctor's childish nature. She wonders if he understands exactly what it means to grown up on a council estate during her time. 'There are reasons estates are stereotyped in those cop shows.' She says hoping she won't have to explain further.

When the Doctor hums in response, she continues. 'Jimmy wasn't- he didn't-' She huffs in exasperation. 'He'd always say no when Noosh asked if he wanted a hit, but she knew how to manipulate Jimmy and he'd often go with her when she went to…Like I said, he got his reputation mostly by association than because he actually did anything.'

The Doctor squeezes her hand and uses his other to gently massage her scalp, trying to let her know without words that he's here. He's listening. He can tell how hard this is for her to speak about from the tiny catches in her voice.

'Noosh didn't have the best attitude, always spoiling for a fight, and it didn't seem to matter to her who she pissed off. After Jimmy ended up in hospital because he tried to protect her, I started coming up with various reasons why he couldn't go with her. I think he came to depend on me to get him out.' Her eyes darken with the memory of those days. 'Ended up gaining a bit of a reputation for being…well the nice way of putting it is clingy.'

The muscle in the Doctor's cheek twitches. Jackie's black hole idea suddenly sounds very appealing.

'It didn't help that after exams we decided to move in together. I sometimes wonder why I did it. I'm not sure if it's because I wanted to try and protect him or if I was just scared of having decided what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Maybe it was a little bit of both.'

In her mind, she sees butter yellow walls, a dark beige carpet, an old beaten blue and white chequered couch, and heavy wooden coffee table. Books, sheets of music, and half-empty cups of tea are scattered about the room. They decided not to get a television so they wouldn't have to pay an extra hundred pounds on the TV license. Young and in love, they didn't miss it.

Rose moves her free hand to the small of the Doctor's back. She begins to draw circles. 'Despite a couple of rough patches, we were happy.'

That love sick tone is back in her voice and it sets his teeth on edge. If he was human and living with Rose Tyler, she'd be learning a new repertoire of alien words. The hand stroking her hair stills. He's known for quite some time just how much of a temptation she is, but there are still some boundaries he dare not cross. Not now. Not when he is the last and the Valeyard stalks his footsteps.

'But in those last few days…' She remembers how every night the arguments grew louder and the words more vile. Noosh had acted as their instructor and they'd learned how to hurt each other.

'I'm not sure of all the details, but I know is Noosh ended up owing the Helsby's. They told her she'd have to make a delivery. I tried to stop Jimmy, but in the end I lost. One morning he was gone. No note. Nothing.'

When Rose had awoken and caressed the cool sheets beneath her fingers, she hadn't felt numb or sad, she'd felt relieved.

'Alone, I couldn't pay the rent and since it was a one bedroom flat I couldn't exactly get a roommate. I ended up owing eight hundred pounds for breaking the contract. Luckily the landlady was a friend of mum's and she let me pay it back in installments. I think that's the real reason she hates him. But what did he really do wrong but help a friend?' She says with a resigned sigh. 'In the end they were caught and because it was Jimmy's first offense all he got was year in prison and some community service.'

The Doctor stayed quiet unsure what to say. Rose had been behaving like Rose. Trying to protect someone she loved even if it was from them self. And Jimmy…well maybe he didn't deserve to be thrown into that black hole after all.

'There are things I regret about my relationship with Jimmy, sometimes even resent him for, but I've never regret knowing or loving him.'

'Is that why after all this time you still keep a memory of him in that locket of yours?' He asks.

Rose pulls away from him so she can look at The Doctor with a toothy grin. 'Oh no, what's inside the locket has nothing to do with Jimmy. I've just always liked it.'

'But, but, but…'

She loves getting him like this. There's just something so satisfying about outwitting a nine-hundred year old genius.

'You wanted to know who gave it to me, and to tell you about him. But I never said I'd tell you anything about what's in the locket.' She raises a hand and tweaks his nose. 'Some secrets, Doctor, can wait.'

Before he can question her further, a procession of armoured Qulantii enters their cell. Together the Doctor and Rose rise and stand beside each other hand in hand.

Rose cannot help but stare at the Qulantii unable to tell the difference between the men and the woman as they all have a very similar blue physique.

One of them in a bronze chain mail steps forward and unfurls a parchment. The Qulanti focuses on Rose with dark black eyes. 'Are you Sir Knight Rose, willing to fight for the Maiden Doctor?'

'I'm sorry did you just say the _Maiden_ Doctor?' She asks with a bubble of laughter in her voice.

'I told you they got the translations wrong.' The Doctor whispers to her. 'Apparently maiden is very close to their word for male.'

'So I have to fight for your honour with a sword? Like one of them swashbuckling heroes?' She asks giving him her trademarked tongue-in-teeth smile.

'Well only if you want.' He replies tugging on his ear. 'Technically it's your choice as to how you battle.'

'My choice? Are you sure?'

'Yup.' He says popping his p. 'Another tiny mistake. I suggest leap frog.'

'Leap frog?'

'You'd have the advantage with your extra digits.'

Rose looks at the hands of the Qulantii and notices they only have three fingers. 'Huh, thought the guy in the market was in an accident.'

'That was a woman, Rose.'

'What? Really? Ho-' Rose stops when the Qulanti clears its throat in rather obvious manner.

'Sir Knight Rose, as the maiden has explained the choice is yours. What have you decided?'

She looks at the Doctor one last time for reassurance. When he gives her a quick nod, she turns back to the Qulanti. 'Well I always was good at vaulting in gymnastics. Leap frog it is.'

As Rose is being lead out by the Qulantii guards, she looks back at the Doctor. 'Do they even know what leap frog is?'

'Ah.' He says as if this thought has never occurred to him. Rose knew it most likely hadn't.

'Ah? Doctor, you better make sure they understand the rules or you're going to be waking up with a new face!' She shouts.

Rose is escorted to small chamber where she is given a light wool tunic and a pair of trousers to change into. No shoes, she notices, but luckily she's wearing a pair of ballet flats. She'd been hoping to be like one of the twelve princesses and wear out her slippers dancing with men in cravats and breeches. Oh well, she thinks, I'll just wear them out with running instead.

When Rose sees him again, the Doctor is standing near the Royal dais. He's been given back his coat, but his hands are chained and the guards seem particularly attentive.

'Shouldn't you give me your handkerchief or something?' She asks as she marches up to him with a wide toothy grin and hopes he doesn't notice how her hands are shaking.

'Actually…' He points to the knight she's to be facing. The Qulanti is ripping off a piece of her tunic and giving it to a bashful little fellow.

Rose cocks her head to the side. 'Seriously? Did they get any of it right?'

'They did the best they could, Rose.' The Doctor admonishes.

'You couldn't have tossed them an easier book, could you?' She replies with a scowl.

He rubs the back of his neck. 'Well, it's not like I planned for this to happen.'

A trumpet sounds the start of the tournament. Quickly, she reaches behind her neck and finds the clasp of her necklace. 'Don't open it.' She says as she drops her locket into his left hand. 'It's not for now.'

'Not for now what does -' The rat-a-tat-tat of drums interrupts him.

'Wish me luck.' She says as the Doctor thrusts out his right hand. She goes to shake it.

'No, no, no, Rose, you're supposed to kiss my hand.' She licks it instead. 'Eww! Rose Tyler, you have a wicked tongue.' He says and makes a great show of wiping his hand along his coat. The guards never notice his hand disappear into his pocket.

She gives him a wide grin before hurrying to her position.

The Doctor fingers the locket and feels an inscription on the back.

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever." -A.A. Milne

His hearts break a little as he realises she always intended to give this to him. A memory she said, but how could she choose from the endless perfect memories he has of them.

The engraving doesn't feel as worn as the rest of the locket and he wonders when she could have had this done. Lately they've practically been in each other's pockets. But there was that moment after he'd taken her to Woman Wept when she asked to speak with her mother alone. If Jackie knows about this, he thinks, it might explain why she overly friendly after the business with Elton.

The cheers from the crowd break him from his reverie. Rose has won as he knew she would. After all, she has always been his knight in shining armour.

Unfortunately, if the Doctor remembers what he read correctly, the rules can always be skewed so the Qulantii never lose.

The guards beside him are distracted by the sword fight on the field. Apparently, Rose would be defending his honour with a sword. Or at least she was trying to. The Doctor feels that tic in his cheek as the Qulanti's sword swooshes a little too close to Rose's head. Despite only having three fingers the Qulanti is very good swordswoman.

With a quick whirl of his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor is freed from chains. Quietly, he lowers them to the ground.

Earlier, he noticed a few jugs of wine hidden in the shadows. From what he recalls, the Qulantii love yanick wine, a potent brew that if heated at certain temperatures could be quite explosive. Finally spotting them, he points his screwdriver at them and whistles to try and hide the sound of his sonic and appear nonchalant even when Rose lets out a squeak of pain.

BOOM!

In the sudden confusion, the Doctor rushes towards Rose and grabs her hand.

'Run!'

And they do. All the way back to the TARDIS.

Rose never asks for her locket back and by the time the Doctor remembers he still has it, it's too late.

* * *

The Doctor, freshly showered, lies back on Rose's bed in a brand new blue suit. He's not sure he likes it, but his brown one still smells like the Thames. One hand is behind his head and the other is holding a sliver locket above him. He watches as it gently swings back and forth wondering if he should finally open it.

The lights in the TARDIS change and for a brief moment the locket takes on a pinkish hue.

'All right fine.' He says as he swings his legs off the bed and sits up.

He gently prise opens the locket. A piece of paper flutters into his lap. He picks it up carefully as he looks at the picture in the locket.

It was a picture taken on New Year's Day by Jackie's friend Bev. They're all there: Jackie, Mickey, Rose and himself. His hand in hers.

Slowly he unfolds the piece of paper. 'The most important thing' he reads. The Doctor realises Rose must have written it after their adventure with Chloe.

He folds the note up and puts it back into the locket before gently closing it.

Pocketing the locket the Doctor leaves Rose's room and heads back to the console room. Donna had told him and now even Rose in her own way was reminding him too. He checks the monitor.

'Hmm…What's this?' There was a strange anomaly near a hospital in London not far their fish'n'chip shop. It could be nothing or it could be…

He fingers the locket in his pocket rubbing the inscription on the back. With a small grin he sets in the coordinates. 'I don't know about you old girl, but I'm feeling a bit peckish.'


End file.
